Aerosmith's Joe Perry Rages At Steven Tyler Over American Idol

Rock Radio UK is reporting that relaunched Boston giants Aerosmith could be on the verge of another civil war after guitarist Joe Perry erupted with rage over singer Steven Tyler's plans to become a presenter on US TV show American Idol.

Tyler says the deal has been done to replace Simon Cowell on the series, and he's also planning to do a solo album.

That's the kind of talk which led to the near-collapse of the band this time last year, following Tyler's drugs-influenced stage fall. The incident saw them cancelling a US tour with ZZ Top and eventually resulted in several big-name singers being invited to replace Tyler.

Issues were resolved in an eleventh-hour meeting in February and Aerosmith have been touring ever since, with talk returning to work on a new album.

But now Tyler has announced: "I'm doing it." And while American Idol producers haven't confirmed the deal, Perry is furious that the singer didn't consult his bandmates.

The guitarist tells the Boston Herald: "I found out on the Internet, like the rest of the world. None of us in the band knew anything about it. This is no small thing.

"I mean, after 40 years he couldn't tell me about this? Why so secretive? We're told it's a done deal – but if Steven is committed to a TV show, that kinda affects the rest of us. We'd like to plan our lives."

One of the main reasons for Aerosmith's near-split was a similar level of lack of communication between singer and band. The frontman publicly discussed taking time out to "work on Brand Tyler" without talking to Perry and the others first.